Asgaard German Security Group said it would supply up to 100 mercenaries, among them former Bundeswehr soldiers, to Somali warlord Abdinur Ahmed Darman as soon as he returns to Somalia. Darman lives in exile but claims he is the country's real president.

On the 6th May, eleven Somali pirates jijacked the Liberian-flagged Russian oil tanker, MV Moscow University, carrying 86,000 tonnes of crude oil worth $US52 million in the Gulf of Aden. The anti-submarine destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov was notified and dispatched a helicopter which disrupted the pirates while commandos on speed boats stormed the tanker. The Russians have killed all eleven pirates and have destroyed their boats according to the pirate spokesman.